10 CLOVERFIELD LANE – Mary Winstead wakes up after crashing her car, only to find that she's chained to John Goodman's wall. That might be bad enough, but here Goodman is a rabid conspiracy theorist who's holed up in his cellar, believing that his country's just been attacked. Tensions escalate in the bunker, and the film follows Goodman's collapse and Winstead's attempts to break out. '10 Cloverfield Lane' succeeds pretty well in keeping a minimal scenario interesting, which is impressive considering there are only three main players (I should add that there's someone else down there with them, a hick who alternates between being Goodman's and Winsteads's foil.) There's enough angst ridden atmosphere and suspense to carry it through to the climax, which takes an abrupt left turn into territory more familiar from the original Cloverfield movie, which I quite liked although it might be a bit too arbitrary for some. Good film, worth catching.
HALLOWEEN NIGHT - A top tip from Dem (thanx, guy) in which a disfigured killer escapes from a psych ward and gatecrashes a Halloween party. Surprisingly, he murders a load of annoying teens. I really liked 'Halloween Night'. It's a dumb as f*ck, but it's allowed to be. In fact, it kind of has to be. The template has already been set down, we all know the score when it comes to a film like this. It can only survive by drilling the routine to the max, which of course 'Halloween Night' does, it couldn't be more formulaic, you know, you've got a public holiday and a house with a secret, what more do you want besides a load of tits and gore, also happily present. That being said, the closer a slasher adheres to formula, the more its idiosyncrasies stand out, particularly if it isn't very competently made, which is the case here. I liked the killer – he was burned as a kid, when he witnessed a brutal home invasion – it's what sent him over the edge. But instead of just having the scars of a burns victim, he looks like a zombie or a monster or something! It's ludicrous, and just adds to the weirdness. There are numerous other instances of questionable filmmaking skill lending a wtf factor to proceedings here, including the ending – how did that dude get in that bag? Why did that other dude pick up the hitch-hiker who couldn't look less like a serial murdering monster, particularly with that upside down face mask scrawled in biro? Why end your movie with a shot of some pavement? Although the UK DVD looks a bit ropey, 'Halloween Night' is solid latter day exploitation trash which I recommend to anyone who can stomach the fact that it was put out by The Asylum.
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